Member of the South Dakota House of Representatives Logan Manhart, a member of the Republican Party, introduced a bill allowing local authorities to spend state budget funds on the purchase of bitcoins.

Manhart proposes to allow the State Investment Council to allocate up to 10% of the state budget for bitcoin investments. According to the bill, the purchased crypto assets must be stored with a qualified custodian or acquired in the form of shares of exchange-traded products (ETP) launched by licensed investment companies. Control over the private key of the purchased bitcoins is proposed to be given to the Investment Council, and this key must be stored on specialized hardware devices located in at least two geographically different locations.

For any bitcoin transactions from the state reserve, the approval of several responsible individuals will be required, and access to crypto assets must be regulated and documented in audit logs, as the legislator demanded. To ensure security and asset preservation, the bill provides for regular checks of the software code and testing for resilience against cyberattacks. State assets must be accessible even during failures in emergencies, stated Manhart.

"I proudly present my bill that will allow the state of South Dakota to invest in bitcoin. Strong money. Strong state," announced Manhart about his initiative.

Previously, the authorities of South Dakota rejected a bill to create a state reserve of bitcoins.

This month, Democratic Senator from Rhode Island Peter Appollonio Jr. introduced a bill that temporarily exempts small bitcoin transactions from income tax and capital gains tax for a year, with limits of $5000 per month and $20000 per year.

Last year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a law regarding the strategic reserve that can include crypto assets, with a market capitalization of at least $500 billion over the previous 24 months.